The present invention relates to a system for arranging work spaces within an office. In particular, the invention relates to a work space system with work surfaces and panel arrangements which allows greater privacy, greater user control over accessibility, and improved worker orientation.
Although systems work spaces have become the common work area in much of the corporate world, most people would still prefer a private office with a door over a systems work space. Indeed, the private office has much to offer. Such a work space gives security, privacy, and a sense of control and ownership. However, there is a disadvantage to the private office. It can isolate people, hinder free and spontaneous communication, take up expensive real estate, and tend to signal a privileged position in the corporate hierarchy. For many organizations, private offices for everyone—even if everyone wanted them—simply are not possible. They are too expensive, too difficult to change, and too complicated to manage. Thus, businesses have increasingly turned to systems offices.
A source of dissatisfaction with systems work spaces is their decreasing size. Due to the decrease in space available for office space, work spaces have become smaller. A smaller work space presents challenges to making the work space functional and efficient. There is nothing intrinsically uncivil about small spaces. Yet as systems furniture offices have gotten smaller and smaller, many have become increasingly dysfunctional for a variety of workers, failing to account for changes in the work people do and the way people work.
The challenge is not merely in dealing with smaller work areas. There are several other areas in which traditional office systems designs are deficient. The first is a lack of privacy. Traditional office systems have no door and low walls. The low walls, prevent a sense of privacy and expose the worker to unwanted distractions. Additionally, the user has no control over his interaction with the outside world; he has no way to block outside distractions or, conversely, to communicate to others that he is open to interaction. Additionally, the worker is unable to easily communicate with a fellow worker in an adjacent work space with whom he may be collaborating. Finally, traditional work space designs orient the worker in an awkward position. Standard work surface designs generally have an L-shaped work surface positioned adjacent to the wall opposite the entrance and one of the side walls. Thus, a worker is generally facing away from the entrance to the work space, so that if someone approaches the work space to communicate, the worker has to turn around. All of these problems create an inefficient and uncomfortable work space.
Therefore, there is a need for a systems work space with greater privacy, greater user control over accessibility, and improved worker orientation.